Celestis, Inc. is a company that launches cremated human remains into

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

, a procedure known as a space burial. It is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of the private space company Space Services Inc. The company purchases launches as a

secondary payload Secondary payload, also known as rideshare payload, is a smaller-sized Payload (air and space craft), payload space transport, transported to orbital spaceflight, orbit on a launch vehicle that is mostly paid for—and with the date and time of l ...

on various

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

s, and launches samples of a person's cremated remains. Launching an individual's entire cremated remains (which weigh between four and eight pounds) would be prohibitively expensive for most people, so Celestis launches small portions of 1-7 grams.

History

Celestis has flown a number of notable participants over the years. Its first flight – ''The Founders Flight'' — carried cremated remains of ''Star Trek'' creator

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...

and 1960s icon

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...

into Earth orbit. Also on board were remains of physicist and space visionary

Gerard K. O'Neill Gerard Kitchen O'Neill (February 6, 1927 – April 27, 1992) was an American physicist and space activist. As a faculty member of Princeton University, he invented a device called the particle storage ring for high-energy physics experiments. ...

, noted rocket scientist Krafft A. Ehricke, and 20 others. Dr.

Eugene Shoemaker Eugene Merle Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was an American geologist. He co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994: the impact was telev ...

— a famous planetary geologist and co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 – was launched to the Moon on NASA's ''Lunar Prospector'' mission in 1998: Celestis helped friends of Dr. Shoemaker include a sample of his cremated remains on that mission. Mercury 7 astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, ''Star Trek'' actor

James Doohan James Montgomery Doohan (; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series ''Star Trek''. Doohan's characterization of the Scottish chief engineer of t ...

(" Mr. Scott"), and a host of others from various walks of life were launched on board ''The Legacy Flight'' in 2007. ''Titanic'' explorer Ralph White was on board the ''Discovery'' and ''Pioneer'' flights. Family members and friends of flight participants usually can attend the launch. Celestis usually arranges for a tour of the launch facility and hosts a non-sectarian memorial service prior to the launch. Celestis also helps people prearrange their own memorial spaceflights for the future.

Flights

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.celestis.com/ 1994 establishments in Texas Companies based in Houston Private spaceflight companies SpaceX commercial payloads Funeral-related industry Companies based in Harris County, Texas American companies established in 1994